Five children have died in a devastating fire that tore through a house in northern France.

The children, who were siblings, were aged between two and ten, according to local officials in the town of Saint-Quentin.

And in a second blaze in a northern suburb of Paris, three were killed and 13 were hurt after reports petrol bombs were thrown in what officials say was a ‘criminal act’.

Officials said the blaze was out of control by the time firefighters arrived. They were unable to save the children

By the time firefighters arrived at the house in Saint Quentin, about 80 miles north-east of Paris, the blaze was out of control and the building was unsafe to enter.

Their father, who was looking after the children for the first time since splitting from his wife, according to French media, desperately tried to get to his children but was beaten back by flames and jumped for his life from a first-floor window.

Saint-Quentin is about 80 miles north-east of Paris and isn’t far from the Belgian border

Enlarge Picturesque: Saint-Quentin is popular with holidaymakers

He escaped with minor injuries.

The children could not be rescued by fire crews and their bodies were discovered after the flames were put out. It is believed they died from asphyxiation.

Local official Jean-Jacques Boyer said the severity of the fire ‘severely hampered the firefighters’ work’.

In the other fire, a blaze erupted at a seven-storey housing block in the Aubervilliers district of Paris, killing three people and injuring 13.

One person died after jumping out the window, another burnt to death on the third floor and a third died in hospital.

Four of those injured are in a serious condition. About 60 people were reported to be in the building when the blaze broke out.

Officials there suspect the tragedy was ‘of criminal origin’ and an investigation has begun.

A resident told journalists the blaze had broken out when someone threw a petrol bomb during a brawl between occupants.

Housing Minister Cecile Duflot, who went to the scene, said authorities had not been aware of any ‘particular warning signs’  at the 1920s building.

But Evelyne Yonnet, deputy mayor for housing in the suburb north of the French capital, said the building was ‘very badly managed’ and had been inhabited by squatters.

‘There had been complaints from residents,’ she said.

Resident Ali Belmadi said the building  had become ‘uninhabitable’.

‘The situation had been getting worse for five years,’ since squatters arrived, he told AFP.

‘There were rats, cockroaches, no security,’ said another resident.

Those who escaped from the building were being temporarily housed in a local gymnasium, reports say.

Read more: Mail Online